Small Group: Word Chains

Hi All! Thank you so much for all of the work you put into our data meeting this week.  I love how you all worked together to represent our students and our school.  As we begin our Patriot Blocks, warm up activities can be so valuable hitting different holes our readers are struggling with.  Word Chains are perfect activities for our students to engage in & they are provided in our Fly Lead Book sets.  

What is a Word Chain????

A word chain is a hands on activity that helps students build neural connections for automatic word recognition. It helps to map the orthography of words to sounds. Students will explore the relationship between phonemes and graphemes as they listen for the sound change in the words.  Word chaining supports phonetic patterns, manipulating sounds in words & reading words.  Students will be activity engaged in "chaining" which is a sequence of words that can be made by changing just one sound.  

Changes can be at the beginning, middle or end of the word.  

Here is a simple video to walk you through a word chain. 

When you are planning your small group lessons, word chains would be a perfect fit for a warm up or making words activity.  Connecting the skill/pattern for your chain should support your mini lesson from Letterland.  Remember there is power in repetition! 

Word Chains can be made with the following materials:

• Magnetic Letters
• Letter Cards

These are the cards that come with our Flyleaf Kits:

• Dry Erase Boards & Markers 
• Jamboard!

Have your students organize their letters as vowels at the top and consonants in the middle, then a space for the word building at the bottom.  

Click the image to grab a copy of this word chain board in Jamboard!

Be sure that you ask students to change one sound at a time. 

Those changes can be:

• adding a sound
• deleting a sound
• changing a sound 

Here is an example of a word chaining lesson from one of our emergent reader lessons in Flyleaf.  Click Here to view the whole lesson. 

Once the word has been built, students should tap under each letter and say the sound.  Then run their finger under the letters and read the word.  

This video from Reading in Room 11 is great for walking you through the process!

Here are some FREE resources that help you get started word chaining with your students!

Pair this lesson with a decodable text or passage with the corresponding skill and you will make a POWERFUL connection for your students!

Executive Function: Independent Learners

Hope you all enjoyed the snow this week! I know I loved being snuggled up at home and the short week we had.  Much needed rest for ALL!

I spent time on Wednesday going over our data slides and that included our behavior for our school over all.  From what I am hearing in PLCs and what the data shows we have many students struggling with some Executive Functioning Skills.  I know we are striving for Rigor and Relationships in our district but we can't ignore that our students may not be ready for learning to happen due to developmental, pandemic or outside repercussions.  

What is Executive Function AGAIN?

In a nutshell, Executive Functions are cognitive skills that aid in thinking and self regulation. They call on your prefrontal cortex to help with decision making and goal setting. Executive Functions help us manage our feelings and actions during day to day life.

Executive Function is broken into 2 strands. Sounds familiar right?????? (SOR and the reading rope.)

Makes me think this is something that we REALLY NEED to pay attention too!

Check out what EF skills are developed at certain ages.  This is very interesting in seeing exactly where your students may lie in their development. 

(Give it a CLICK to make it bigger!)

 

Take a look at the EF skills below.  I bet students in your classroom that are struggling academically also struggle in one or more of these areas.  

This blogpost from The Pathway to Success is incredible!!!! It walks you through each skill and what it looks like in the classroom & what your can do to support it.  

There are even separate posts about interventions that can be put in place to help support the specific skill development. 

This video is one of my favorites!  

EF is like an air traffic controller! 

As educators,  we always know that we have to focus on the whole child and not just the academic piece.  I want us to keep this in mind when we dig into our data.  Title 1 will be supporting students but we know there will be a chunk of students in our classrooms that will need more support than ever.   

Love the idea of offering information to parents about what they can do at home to help strengthen their students EF skills.  Grab this freebie!

I know this may seem like another thing to teach but I encourage you to look at embedding these skills in your lessons.  Such as teach planning skills when you are doing a research paper. Or use games!  Check out the link below! 

I love this video to share with students about EF and how they work for them!

Here are some simple things that you can do to help explicitly teach and support the development of these skills in the classroom. 

Don't forget about our Behavior Problem Solving website!  So many incredible resources for you to use with your students to help support EF skills. 

                              

Metacognition Strategy for Small Group

Welcome Back!  I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing break!  I sure did!!!  This week,  I know you spent lots of time getting your kiddos back into the swing of being back at school. (I spent time getting myself back into the swing of being back too!) 

On the blog, I wanted to bring back an oldie but a goodie!  Metacognition!  U know I love it!  As you know, explicit instruction is crucial for young readers.  Modeling your thinking is just one way you can address metacognition during your literacy block.  In the past, we have used our Think Bubbles & Reading Salad. 

Check out this video all about Metacognition for a quick refresher! 

I came across a new Strategy that I know it will be super powerful in small groups!  Here is how to get started! 

In large group, read a text and point out what parts of the text triggered your thinking.  (Recording those thoughts in a think bubble would beneficial for them to refer back to.) This is your explicit modeling time!

Such as:

Aha moments

Questions

Connections

Inferences

Small Group Metacognition Strategy

Guess my Thoughts!!!! 

I love this activity and so will your kiddos!  It is a perfect activity to reinforce your large group modeling. Guess my Thoughts fits perfectly into small group and  to centers.  Simply choose a text and record your thinking as you read a section on sticky notes. (This would be great for one of our F & P books.  Then use it in your small group or copy the section being used for centers.) 

• Show the students your sticky notes first and read your thoughts in no specific order.   
• Allow them to then read the text and guess what parts of the text triggered your thoughts.  (I would copy the page and label where Post its may occur.)
• Pass out small posts its, one with a smile, star and square.  Ask students to place their post its in front of them matching where they occur in the text.   
• Be sure that they pin point what part of the text they think triggered your thinking. 
• Allow students to choose one of the sticky notes and write how they feel about your words.  Do they agree or disagree and why?
  

  This sheet will work beautifully for a center work activity! Just click the image to download a copy!

Hope this is helpful!  

Winter Break!!!! 2021

Congratulations!!!!!!  We did it!  Go RELAX!   Go ENJOY your family!  You have MORE than earned this break! 

I am NOT going to share self care tips...U know U!  Do what makes you happy!  Me, I will be in Nashville with my husband living it up for the first weekend.  I then will spend the holiday at home with my family and my Aunt from Ohio.  

So while you are relaxing and enjoying your time take a peek at FEW of my FAVORITE things! 

Feel free to try them out! 

Basically my plan for winter break! 

If you decide to do a little shopping over break don't forget about these discounts just for TEACHERS!
Thank you Deal Hack for putting them together!

If you are looking for a little adventure away from home, check out FREE Events around Charlotte! 

Need a meal?  An easy one that will WOW your family and friends????

This is spot on as good at Olive Garden's Baked Ziti! 

I add sweet Italian sausage to mine!

I will be making this cutie!  So adorable & easy! 

Lily and I will be heading to the movies to watch SPENCER! (I am a HUGE Princess Diana fan!)

And we are planning on a few of these Holiday Treats...#15 for sure!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and enjoy every second of break!  If you do anything from my favorite things list keep me posted.  I would LOVE to hear what you think!  

Data Binders

Reindeer Science was SOOOO FUN this week!  I had a wonderful time and I sure hope the kiddos did too!  I am looking forward to my next rotation next week!  I adore this picture that Mrs. Derberry sent me!  

This week on the blog, I wanted to touch base with you about Data Binders.  I know, I know...it seems like just another thing but helping students own their data is such a powerful motivator! 🙌🏻 🙌🏻 

Even if you don't go the binder route, I encourage you to be open with your students about why you are pulling them outside the classroom to test. 

I always started testing "season" with the reasons why we were altering our routine and why I needed them to work independently.  This helped tons with management and buy in.  I also would randomly shout out students that made growth.  It really made testing relevant for the students and helped to encourage them to do their best. 

Each Friday, after our spelling test we updated our data binders.  We also set goals for the next week.  Got the students thinking about their data, planning and writing! (It was also a great time for me to meet individually with students for conferencing.) 

Below I am going to share some ideas that will allow you to start some student lead data tracking in your classrooms! 

Love this video about how a teacher set up her data binders.  She shares things that worked and things that didn't.  

Here is the book that she shared about in the video.

I also came across this FREE file for Dibels 8th Edition.  This is something that I would defiantly have my students fill out with me and then discuss. 

Achieve the Core has a great post about using data binders to increase student independence!  Check it out below. 

And I LOVE the title of this post!  

Whose data is it?

Such a powerful question.  Students NEED to have ownership of their data so that it can be then channeled into goals for them.  

Adrienne Wiggins has a killer post about how she uses her data binders to increase her student's scores. 

Know that there is no right way or wrong way to do this.  Just work to get your kiddos involved with their data.  Help them to set goals for themselves and celebrate those goals when they reach them. 

It is that simple! 

Decodable Comics

Happy December!  I am so excited for all the holiday fun that we will have going on at PVES!  Thank you advance for helping to keep the magic alive for our students.  

It is no secret that I LOVE tiktok...& I found something really awesome and I thought your kiddos would totally enjoy using them during small group or even during centers!

You can follow her over on the TT @farmerlovesphonics!

Here is more information on the site: 

You will find FREE comics that you can download for your students and they have printable templates where students can write their own comics. SOOOO fun for centers and writing lessons! 

The decodable comics are organized by phases that are based on the phonics progression of learning. 

Here is a preview of the templates!  I think the kiddos would LOVE to be able write their own after reading a few of the comics themselves.

Another one of my FAVORITE educational tiktoks is Lemon Tree Literacy!  Ms. Jordyn has TONS of Science of Reading videos to watch.  Lots of small group activities...I could watch her forever!!!  (She is on Instagram too...click the REELS for the videos.) 

Remember "Rainbow Writing" whelp...you can still do it!  Just have your kiddos rainbow the sounds they hear in the words.  Check out @learningwithheidi on tiktok or check out the video below!

I made a few sheets that you can use to go along with this center!  Grab them HERE!

Have fun exploring tiktok!!!!!

Vision Boards in the Classroom

Hi All!  We are SOOOO close to Fall Break!  I know you all are looking forward to some family time and a much needed break.  I have LOVED coming into your classrooms and seeing your Gratitude Pumpkins.  I hope you and your kiddos enjoyed that extra time together on Fridays sharing about what you are all grateful for. 

Since next week is a VERY short week, I thought I would share an idea that I came across a few weeks ago.  It has really stuck with me.  

Vision Boards!  And how we can use them in the classroom!  I love the idea of students creating these boards as we start a new school year or just after New Years or ANYTIME.  I think they are wonderful for refocusing and goal setting.  

This video is a great explanation of what a VISION Board is!

Top 10 Benefits of Having a Vision Board

• Creates Better Intentions. No matter what you put on your vision board, you must have the intention to achieve it. ...
• Makes Your Dreams Clear. ...
• Improves Creativity. ...
• Provides Motivation. ...
• Enhances Productivity. ...
• Provides Focus. ...
• Boosts Chances of Success. ...
• Makes You Happier...

This blog has a great post about Vision Boards and kids!  She suggests the idea of HOPES and DREAMS! Carrie Elle has some FREE printable templates too!

This video will help you introduce the idea of a vision board to your kiddos! 

This book on Goal Setting would be a great addition to your lesson on vision boards! 

I created a vision board on a recent retreat I attended and it has a BIG part of keeping me on track! 

Here are some FREE Templates that you can print and use with your kiddos! 

Check out these FREEbie from TPT!

 

StudyALLKnight has a great post about creating a Vision Board Book that your kiddos can add to all year long. 

I thought this would be an amazing idea to bring into our classrooms!  I made a digital vision board for you to use with your kiddos! (Click to grab a copy!)

But know that a simple piece of paper would work too.  I also thought that framing these boards or having them displayed in your classrooms would be powerful! 

Here are a few other ideas:

• $ Store usually has frames & you can use the cardboard inside as the base. 
• You could laminate them for students and then create a display in the classroom.
• You could give them a small binder and put the vision board on the outside in the sleeve on the front. Keep all their vision writing inside. 
• Use this idea for your Enrichment Kiddos in Patriot Block.
• Create a vision board for you classroom!
• Create vision boards just after MOY to help your students set some academic goals.